vol. vV;^v�;.\.';./
TORJONTO, ONT., FEBRUARY 15, 1*24
The death of Wpodrow Wilson marks the exit of the greatest figure of modern times. Though he strove for a "peace without victory," fate turned it into a victory without peace. He sought the triumphs of the spirit over the triumphs of the sword. He lighted an inextinguishable hope in the hearts of � humanity which, however, remote its realiza- . tion, wilt^be forever associated with the name of the man who, for all his <iream of human felicity, could still proclaim to his country-men, in the: hour of peril, "the right is more precious than peace." Friend and foe are now.unjted -that a great light, which had long been burning low, has gone out.
In honoring Wood row Wilson, the present, honors one whom the world will forever honor, for he will be remembered as one of the pioneers of Human progress. It was his privilege afcd immortality to have lengthened the cords and strengthened the.stakes of the tent of human fellowship. If Wood row Wilson failed, the ignominy is not his, but that of his fellow-countrymen who were not equal to his vision.
Wilson, unCflce any of his associates in the World Waj* e&deared himself to the heart of the masses of mankind whose passionate wish for peace he,voiced. His departure is felt by, the average man on the streets of the world as. a personal loss. While he lived he belonged; to the world, not merely to the United States. Now he belongs to the ages.
"I am ready" were his parting words. Ready for what? we askf As we 1 ike to inter-pret these dying words, they mean his readiness to stand up and receive his just due, not before the tribunal of contemporary public opinicm, where the eyes of Justice are tied, but before the Court of History, where the ? scales oj Justice hang evenly, and where the-; God of History, whom he endeavored to express, sits in judgment. No man who has stood before this Court ever wieldecf greater moral, and spiritual influence on mankind thaa did Wilson. He was a rare synthesis of the genius of leader^,i he power of idealism, the wisdom rf ripe " Warship, the stubborn will of a - - ^het. arid the authority of the Pre-: . ��: -h^ .ted States of America, or*4--. :r s the most -mo-
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maintain that Wilson saved civilization from goinjj to rack and ruin. The Judge of History will undoubtedly* render the decision that Wilson, above all other men in hia generation, is most deserving of immortality.
It was Wbodrow Wilson who sublimated the purposes of the war. His idealism gave them new meaning. Under his inspiration their ideal became not merely to destroy the despot of Germanyr but despotism everywhere; not merely to wip� out militarism in Germany, but militarism in every country.
Wilson's idealism was the highest expression of American puritanism�the conception that the affairs of the world ought to be governed by the laws of righteousness. This ideology is distinctly religious. This religious idealism Wilson took seriously. With Hamlet, he felt that "the time is out of joint; O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"
The Wilson, however, who returned from Versailles to the U.S.A. Senate, found himself between two worlds�the one dead, the other powerless to be born; his own country too young to really * understand the need for ideals, and Europe too old and cynical to require any ideals. Outmanoeuvered by the crafty, selfish politicians of Europe on the one hand, and rejected by the political representatives of his own people, the League of Nations, conceived by General Smuts and promoted by Wilson, became, in the words of Zangwill, a league of damnation, and the new freedom a new slavery. It would seem as if all his hopes and ideals ended in a crash, bringing disappointment, disillusionment and despair to the millions who saw in Wilson the Messiah.
And yet, in the midst of sabre rattling and large-scale military preparations, the masses of the peoples of the earth are beginning to reaJize that only through the ideals of Wilson can the world and civilization be saved. It must have been comforting to Wilson, in his closing days, to see the change of heart which is taking place even among his own countrymen. The dreamer was becoming the prac--tical leader. Wilson is mighty in death. :vHis passing merely serves to emphasize the ideal for which he broke.
A few words remain to be said in regard to Wilson's relations to the Jewish people. In Wilson's death the Jewish people lost a sincere friend. Wilson was a friend of the Jews because he was a great humanitarian, "with malice toward none and charity toward all." He had a keen and sympathetic appreciation of-'the .world's injustice to the Jew during the last 1,900 years, and as a good Christian and an American he conceived it to be his duty to do what in nim lay to right the wrongs Israel had .-vi;'!'; -i, to correct the mhumani-iies frfri^fo misuoder^uadJggs_ and prejudice
in Carnegie Hall to voice his protest against the U.S.A. renewing a trade treaty with Russia on account of the attitude of the Russian Government towards the Jews. Later, as President of the United States, Mr. Wilson sent Henry Morgenthau to Poland to investigate the Polish outrages against the Jews. This was a new procedure in international relations. While in Versailles, Wilson learned of the Polish attacks upon the Jews and promptly reprimanded the Polish representatives, whilst insisting that these tactics be stopped.
Wilson, more than any other man, was responsible for the minority right clauses inserted into treaties and constitutions of the newly created states, such as Poland, Rou-mania, Hungary and others, which gave the Jews in these countries equal rights with other nationals. He also prevented the expulsion of Jews from certain countries. As President of the United States, he vetoed the 3 per cent. Immigration Restriction Bill, which passed over his veto, thus showing himself to be a genuine lover, not only of our people, but of all people who sought the shores of America as a haven of refuge from persecution and oppression.
He was the first President to raise a Jew to the highest position on the American Bench. . In spite of opposition, he stood by Louis- D, Brandeis and stubbornly persisted until the Senate ratified his appointment of this distinguished jurist to the United States Supreme Court.
Wilson-iwd many devoted personal friends among the Jews, among whom the best known are Judge Brandeis, Henry Morgenthau, Barney Baruch, Eugene Meyer and Dr. S. S, Wise.
Wilson was most sympathetic to Zionist aspirations and on August 31, 1918, he wrote the now famous letter to Dr. Wise, approving the form as weil as the spirit of the Balfour Declaration, which for the first time committed the United States Government to support of the movement of rebuilding Palestine as the national Jewish homeland. His friendship for Palestine Jewry, as well as his real humane spirit of brotherhood, was exemplified when he sent, during the early war days when the United States was still neutral, a war vessel with food for the starving inhabitants of Palestine.
Wilson saw in the American Jews a spiritual force of great power and lauded their contribution to American life on many occasions.
The Jewish people will-never forget what he did for them. He will be revtred as one of the great Chasicje Um&th Hotrfom.